The SF 58 and the 580 Ex as slave

[jimleicam3]

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I have a Canon 580 EX that works okay with my M cameras(M3 & M8, my M9 may not show until after Christmas). But if I purchase a SF 58 flash, will I be able to use the 580EX as a slave, I would then have a very portable studio with two flashes and two umbrellas. Thanks, Jim

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I have a Canon 580 EX that works okay with my M cameras(M3 & M8, my M9 may not show until after Christmas). But if I purchase a SF 58 flash, will I be able to use the 580EX as a slave, I would then have a very portable studio with two flashes and two umbrellas. Thanks, Jim

I suspect not since the way the 580EX series is triggered is by a binary coded infra red data signal from a master device. The data includes such information as exposure ratios etc. and if I remember correctly it's about 90 bits long. It's not a simple fire now response to a bright flash like the old slaves used to be.

 

You might be able to get a simple old type slave receiver to fit on the 580EX working in manual mode that would respond to the SF-58 flash. Although the SF-58 is claimed to be firmware update-able I'd be very surprised if it was able to transmit the proprietary Canon control codes.

 

I use a Canon ST-E2 controller with 580EXs and 1D series. Maybe there's a way to trigger an ST-E2 and the SF-58 together and get the ST-E2 to trigger the 580EX. On second thoughts even if you could trigger the ST-E2 and SF-58 together the output from the SF-58 might block the 580EX's reception of the ST-E2 signal.

 

Bob.